Constancy
by R.J.North
Summary: Moving forward and onward with the hopes of creating a stronger, peaceful world, as well as a stronger relationship with a certain Super-Soldier. Jamie continues to fight Cerberus and aids her friends in keeping the world safe. And hopefully, it will make her life so much better. Part III of the Solace Saga.
1. Integrate

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel. Just Jamie.**

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Chapter 1

Integrate

"Normal" didn't take long to get back to. Once Jamie moved her things into her room at the Tower, she slowly started to get back into a routine. Seeing as she didn't have much to begin with, it didn't take long to move back in, and the room had already been decorated the way she had liked it, seeing as it was her room, after all.

Things with Steve started to get better too. Once they had talked about it, things were better between them, and things started to get even better than they had been before the whole fight happened. It seemed distance really did make the heart grow fonder. At least, in their case it did. She knew arguments were normal in relationships, and that working through issues could make them strong. And she vowed to never run again from Steve.

Movie nights occurred almost every night. Jamie would make dinner, and sometimes Steve would help out, though he wasn't much of a cook. They'd eat together, almost cuddle (almost being Jamie just sat extremely close to him, wanting to but her head on his shoulder and Steve has his arm on the back of the couch, though really he just wanted to put it over her shoulders), and watch the movie, laughing, or crying (on Jamie's part) depending on the film they had chosen.

Training started back up once her injuries were healed, and those didn't take long at all. Emotionally though, Jamie still wasn't 100%. Getting over Gerard was the hardest thing Jamie had ever had to do. She didn't believe she'd ever truly get over it. Gerard would always hold a place in her heart, and every time she remembered him would remind her of why she fights. But Steve had a point. Jamie was only one person. She had incredible power, but she was still only one person, and she was human. There was so much she could do, and she shouldn't torture herself with what she couldn't.

One oddity though was the weird dreams that had come back. Those dreams of those alien looking planets with those strange lights that always ended up attacking her were back, and it confused her beyond belief. What were they? Why were they attacking her? What was it representing in her dreams? A dream analyzer would have a field day…

But her friends and building mates were a perfect distraction to pull her away from those dreams. It wasn't just them though. Jamie had gone out to lunch and dinner (never breakfast because he never got up early enough for that) with Johnny Storm now that she was back in New York. That was always an adventure in and of itself. Johnny was doing well. He had been dating someone new, and it was going well. He pretty into her, whomever she was.

She had also met up with Matt and Foggy once for drinks at Josie's. They were doing okay. Not so great, but okay. One of their only real cases they had done was Jamie's, and the large amount of money paid to them sustained them for a little while, as a majority of their customers were paying in other forms of payment other than cash. Jamie offered to loan them some money, but they both outwardly refused to take it. They were polite about it, and Jamie didn't blame them for not wanting to accept, but at least they knew she was there for them if they ever truly needed it.

James Roberts, her old army pal that had moved upstate with his family: his wife Martha, his oldest son Kyle and his younger son Casey, were doing wonderfully as well. They had spoken on the phone several times. The move did wonders for his marriage, and fixing that, and their family dynamics after everything they had been through was their primary focus, so it was all a success. Kyle got over the move, and was doing great on his high school hockey team.

Overall, everybody was doing very well.

Well, everybody except Anthony "Tony" Stark.

From Jamie's experience with all the men that had been in her life (Father, Brother, boyfriends, etc), they were the worst when they got sick. But nobody could beat just how annoying and irritating Tony Stark was when he caught the common cold. He refused to move off the main area couch, which meant anybody that ventured into that area of the tower was vulnerable to be ambushed and ordered to do or get something for the billionaire.

Jamie found that the easiest thing to do was to just stay either in her room or Steve's, so that they could keep each other company, and far away from the infected the genius. Steve, however, had a craving for orange juice, which neither of them had, so that meant he had to go get it from the fridge at the bar.

A little while later, while Jamie was relaxing on Steve's couch in his room, watching the main menu of the movie they were planning to watch. He came back, his face red, and the expression on his face very clearly stating that he was not in a good mood. That was a drastic contrast to how Steve had been not ten minutes before.

Jamie chuckled, clutching the pillow to her chest, and shook her head. "Tony still sick?"  
"You'd think he was dying!" Steve grumbled.

The brunette nodded. "Mhm, that's how a lot of men are when they get sick. It's a pain."

"That's one thing I don't miss. I was sick enough for twenty lifetimes when I was younger, before the serum. Upside is that I don't get sick anymore."

"It is. Which also means I don't have to worry about getting sick from you."

"It is. Do you get sick?" Steve asked.

"No, not really. I think it's the same kind of thing with you. I haven't really been sick since the whole Cerberus crap."

"Well, I'm glad you don't have to suffer through that anymore."

"Did Tony send you on a mission or something?"  
"Yeah, he sent me down to the lab to tell Bruce to make him something to make him better.

"It's just a cold. I mean, thank heavens he didn't catch the flu."

"I know," Steve grumbled, running a hand through his hair.

Jamie just chuckled. "Steve, sweetheart?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's your orange juice?"

"...You've got to be kidding me."

* * *

 **Yes, sorry the first chapter is so short. I just wanted to start off slow for the first chapter: give an update on what's been going on after the last chapter, and now. I wanted to show that Jamie and Steve are getting alone again, and things are the same, if not better, than they used to be with them. It's a chill chapter to start off with before we get into Age of Ultron in the next chapter. I'll definitely be making up for the length of this chapter with that arc. Hope you guys liked it. Please leave a review and let me know what you think!**

Reviews for the sneak peak (if any) and this chapter will be in the next chapter.


	2. New Ballgame

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel, Avengers 2, etc. I just own Jamie.**

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Chapter 2

New Ballgame

The soldier's minute. All you get is one minute at a time of everything. You have that minute, and when it's over, you could be dead or you could still be alive, but then the next minute after that is exactly the same as the last; one minute of everything. Just one minute. And the next minute, and the next.

That was what Jamie learned in the military. It was how she learned to deal with everything. One terrifying, chaotic minute at a time. There was always a plan, but generally, plans were just a guide for the events that were transpiring. Jamie learned that she needed to take the information in and act, never react, as it was appropriate in that minute. It could change in the following minutes to come, which it usually did, but it was the best way to be in her line of work.

And this was exactly how she thought getting back into the game. Currently, her and her Avenger pals were in Sokovia after receiving word from Phil that Loki's sceptre was there at a HYDRA base.

Jamie's job was pretty simple. She was to supply air support and take out the drones that were flying around causing the non-airborne members of the team a whole lot of trouble. She didn't mind. It was simple, and a challenge enough for her. And since she was still getting used to being back into the big league again, it was nice to start out slower.

" _Shit!"_ Tony yelled.

" _Language,"_ Steve remarked instantly.

Jamie almost froze in midair, her brow knit together. "Really? Ike you should talk, Cap…"

" _Not now, Solace,"_ Steve mumbled, and it was obvious from the tone in his voice that he knew he was in for an earful for that remark. "JARVIS, what's the view from upstairs?"

" _The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield,"_ JARVIS answered. " _Strucker's technology is well beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken."_

" _Loki's scepter must be here,"_ Thor concluded. " _Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it….At long last…"_

" _At long last is lasting a little long, boys,"_ Nat pointed out.

" _Yeah, I think we lost the element of surprise,"_ Clint added.

"Yeah, but when do we ever really have the element of surprise anymore," Jamie retorted. Jamie dropped down from above of one of the drones and grabbed ahold of it. It struggled to get away, but her hold was too tight. She kept it on a straight path, a large tree coming right into their path. She didn't let go until the last second, forcing it to collide and explode, while Jamie just narrowly weaved to the side.

" _Good point,"_ Clint answered.

" _Wait a second. No on else is gonna deal with the fact that Cap just said language?"_ Tony said.

" _I know,"_ Cap sighed. " _Just came out."_

"It's so ironic," Jamie pointed out. "You have the worst mouth out of all of us. Excluding myself, of course."

" _Yeah, I don't think anybody beats Jamie's mouth,"_ Clint said.

" _It's a_ lovely _dirty mouth,"_ Tony said.

"Suck up," Jamie muttered.

There was a cry on Clint's line, but nothing after. " _Clint?"_ Nat asked. Nat was the closest to him, so naturally she was the one to go in and check on him. " _Clints hit."_

" _We have an enhanced in the field,"_ Steve told them all.

Jamie landed on the ground, her hand to her ear with the comm inside. "What's the abilit-" Before she could do anything Jame was sent flying backwards from a blur. She groaned and rolled to her knees. "Okay, nevermind. I got it…"

" _Does somebody want to deal with that bunker?"_ Nat asked. Couple seconds later she replied with, " _Thank you."_

" _Stark, we really need to get inside,"_ Steve ordered.

" _I'm closing in,"_ Tony answered.

Jamie took a breath once she composed herself and flew off in the direction of Clint and Tasha. It Clint was hurt, he'd need an evac, and that required cover. And that was definitely something Jamie could provide.

" _Drawbridge is down people!"_ Tony told them.

" _Clint's hit pretty bad, guys. We're gonna need evac,"_ Nat said.

" _I can get Barton to the jet. The sooner we are gone the better. You and Stark secure the sceptre,"_ Thor planned.

" _Copy that,"_ Steve said.

"I'm already on my way," Jamie informed her. "I'll supply cover suppose. Barton's fat ass is too heavy for me to carry."

" _...I heard that…"_ Clint grumbled.

" _Find the sceptre,"_ Thor instructed.

" _And for gosh sake, watch your language!"_ Tony added.

" _That's not going away anytime soon,"_ Steve muttered.

Jamie laughed as she landed next to Nat. "Hey there, Clint. How you holding up?" She knelt down to check him over. He was in too much pain to really answer her question. He seemed stable for the tie being with the wound in his side, but they really did need to get him out of there as soon as possible.

Thor landed several feet away. Natasha and Jamie helped get Clint up. Thor took him, and once they were gone, Jamie turned to Nat. "You want to go with?"

"No, I gotta Lullaby the Hulk soon," Nat answered. "You go. Keep an eye on Clint."

"You got it," Jamie answered with a sharp nod. Jamie took off and within a couple seconds, she caught up to Thor, giving much needed cover from the drones. Once there, Jamie got Clint setup in on the bed and made sure his wound was covered with a clean wrapping. Thor turned to go back out and join the first, leaving Jamie along to tend to Clint.

" _Guys, I've got Strucker,"_ Steve said.

" _Yeah, I got something bigger…"_ Tony muttered. " _Thor, I got eyes on the prize."_

 _Good, now we can go home,_ Jamie thought, smoothing some of Clints hair down. _We can go home and get better again…_

* * *

Tony was behind the wheel, though technically JARVIS could've taken complete control and gotten them home safely as well. Everybody was doing their own respective thing, Tony flying, Clint laying down, Steve was putting in an IV into Clint's hand, Nat was watching, Bruce had his headphones on, and Thor was checking on the sceptre. Jamie was standing in the back rubbing the large fist shaped bruise on her stomach from where the speedster had pushed her.

Steve walked over to the small fridge and grabbed an ice pack. He held it up with a smirk, and held it out to her.

"Thank you," she responded with a grateful smile.

"Nothing too bad, I hope," he told her.

"No, nothing," she told him. "Just a bruise."

"Well, I'm glad it's nothing more than. I'd hate for you to be suffering," Steve said.

"Oh, you know me, I'm a tough cookie," Jamie said. " But it's so sweet you you're concerned."

"Always," he said.

"Thor? Report on the Hulk," Nat called out.

Steve and Jamie turned to look and see what was going on.

Thor turned around and smiles as he answered, "The gates of Hell are filled with the screams of his victims."

Nat quickly turned her head to gape at Thor. That obviously wasn't what she had wanted to hear. Jamie bit her lip and tried not to laugh by turning into Steve, and burying her face into his shoulder. He looked down, a smirk on his face as well.

"But not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no, wounded screams," Thor corrected, seeing that wasn't what they wanted to hear. "Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and gout."

Jamie couldn't hold it back at the gout comment. She snorted and had to actually cover her mouth with her hands. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh," she muttered to anybody that could hear or cared."

"You're good, Jay," Steve told her, patting her lower back. Jamie smiles and moves away from him to sit down to ice her stomach.

Tony made his way over to the group, and turned to Thor, glancing over the sceptre. "Feels good, yeah? I mean, you've been after this thing since SHIELD's collapse, Tony said. "Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but…"  
"No, but this….this brings it to a close," Thor said.

"It'll be nice to have some closure," Jamie agreed.

"As soon as we find out what else this has been used for," Steve jumped in. "I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?"

"Banner and I will give it the once over before it goes back to Asgard," Tony clarified. "Is that cool with you?" Thor nodded. "It's just a few days till the farewell party. You're staying, right?"

"Yes, yes, of course. A victory should be honored with revels," Thor said.

"Yeah, who doesn't love revels? Captain?" Tony asked.

"Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri ad HYDRA," Steve said. "So, yes, revels."

"Jamie? Can I take solace that you'll stay for the revels?" Tony asked with a smirk.

Jamie rolled her eyes at his sentence. "You're going to make me wear a dress, aren't you."

"Yes, yes I am."

* * *

 **So, a short start, but the next chapter is longer. I assure you. And you guys are going to looooooove next chapter. Next chapter is the beginning of the party. Let me know what you guys think, and I hope you all liked the chapter!**

Thanks go to the following for their reviews on the previous chapter(s):

 _ **FelixFelicis02**_ \- I can't tell you _exactly_ when they get together, because that'll spoil things, but I will tell you they get together in this book. I promise.

 ** _gamerchic_** \- I'm so glad you love how things have falling back into order for Jamie.

 _ **Jo**_ \- I'm so glad you're enjoying this so far.

 _ **dream2bawrtr**_ \- I'm glad you love them together. I work very hard on making their relationship cute.

 _ **WaywardandWanderlust**_ \- Yeah, pretty much every guy ever is like that when they get sick. I just couldn't help myself by putting it in.

 ** _Jedi Jelsa777-_** Yeah, my dad is the same way. It's my passive aggressive way of complaining about it. lol

 _ **The girl with no life** _ \- Yeah, I thought it was a good way to start it off. We all needed something simple and fluffy after all the crap that's gone on. I have a plan for Mjolnir, so you'll just have to wait and see. It's not in the next chapter, but the one after it.

 _ **CJ/OddBall**_ \- Oh, I get like that all the time. Last night I wasn't in the mood to do anything. Not read. Nor write (I've been in a writing funk lately. Not writers block, but not in the mood to do it). It's such a pain, because you want to do things, but you don't at the same time. (love Yu-Gi-Oh btw. Though GX was my favorite. Jaden was bae).


	3. Giveth Hope

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel, Avengers 2, etc. I just own Jamie.**

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Chapter 3

Giveth Hope

Jamie's room looked like a tornado hit it. Spread out everywhere were outfits that she could possibly where that night. For three days, Jamie had put off planning what she would wear, and now she had run out of time. Taylor would be arriving an hour or so after the party started as her guest, and so that meant she wouldn't be there to help Jamie pick something out. Outfits and fashion definitely wasn't something Jamie was very good at.

Eventually, Jamie picked out a tan dress with black lace overtop, and matching shoes. He accented it with gold and black jewelry, and put her brown hair up into a neat bun. Jamie went out and mingled for a little bit, all the while feeling very uncomfortable. Parties so weren't her thing. It was a blessing when Taylor got there. She didn't like parties either, so the two of them hung out up on the upper deck looking out at the city and talking. Eventually though, Taylor had left her to go geek out over some ideas for improvements on something that Jamie knew she would never in a million years understand even i the managed to dumb it down to a fifth grade level. She left her sitting on the rather uncomfortable modern loveseat up on the upper deck floor of the main living room. Her attention went from the view of the city at night to the people mingling around the party.

It was nice to have a moment to herself, even though there were a couple people off towards the glass wall facing rest of the party. There were far enough away from her though that she didn't really hear what they were saying, and they didn't block her own view of the party. It was nice to see everybody so happy and carefree and not under the stress of battle or conflict.

Every member on their team had dealt with so many things, far more than their fair share trauma and conflict. They deserved a win. They deserved a night to just relax and be themselves and together like normal people for a change.

Jamie's eyes caught site of Steve making his way to the bar. His eyes were glancing around as he moved, telling her he had no particular destination after he obtained what she assumed was a beer. His eyes made it up to where she was sitting, and a small smile formed on his face. He pointed to the bar, silently asking if she wanted anything and she nodded, a gentle smile gracing her lips as well.

Steve waited for Natasha to leave from her conversation with Banner to move in. He spoke to him for a minute or so before leaving poor Bruce looking rather troubled and flustered on something.

"I got you a water," Steve said, handing her the bottle as he took the small amount of space next to her on the loveseat. There was actually a good deal of room, but since Steve was his muscular self he took up more room than the average person. "I know you don't drink, and it's rather warm in here with all these people so water's the best bet, right?"

"You know me so well," she teased. "Thank you." She glanced to back over toward the bar where she had seen Steve and Banner moments before and nodded her head in that direction, her eyes meeting back up with Steve's blues. "What was all that about?" she asked. "You left Banner looking a little more than flustered back there."

Steve chuckled, leaning back with his right arm resting against the back of the seat behind Jamie, bringing them a little closer together. "Nothing really," he assured her. "Just some stuff with Romanoff."

"Mmmm," she hummed, nodding her head in understanding. "Those two would do wonders for eachother, I swear. It's a weird combination that fits perfectly."

"I full heartedly agree with you on that," he said.

There was a comfortable silence as the two just sat there watching everything going on around them. Steve sipped his beer and Jamie sipped her water, her eyes primarily looking out to the lights just outside the glass in front of her to the right. She could never get used to that view, just like with the helicarrier. It wasn't as nice as the helicarrier, because there were no stars, but this was a very close second.

"It's a beautiful night," Jamie pointed out. "The one thing that I really love about living here is this view. I'll never get used to it." She turned her head to look at Steve as she finished. "It's far better than the view at the new SHIELD HQ."

"I'm sure," he said.

"The company isn't bad either," Jamie teased, bumping Steve with her shoulder. A smirk gracing her deep red lips.

"I really did miss having you here," he reminded her. "And I can't tell you enough how sorry I am for what I did."

"And again, you weren't the only one at fault,"she reminded him. "Both of us regret it. And we can, and _have_ , moved passed it. And together, you, me, and Sam, will find Bucky and bring him back home where he belongs; to _us_."

Steve nodded, but he didn't look as convinced as Jamie would have liked. She didn't press the subject though. They were having a good time and she didn't want to chance making it worse by bringing up the past. She was over it, and for the most part, Steve was over it. But there was something in his eyes that really struck Jamie as odd, because for once she really didn't know what was going on in that blond head of his.

Jamie turned her eyes back to the city, but slightly froze in shock when she felt a soft, warm pair of lips press against her temple. She looked back up to Steve, her eyes curious with a fierce blush dusting her cheeks. She opened her mouth to say something, but she completely lost her words.

"You're too forgiving," he said, clearing his throat as he shifted awkwardly in his seat. "But enough of that. Are you enjoying the party?"

Jamie giggled, _actually giggled_. "Well, for as much as I like parties, I'm having a pretty good time," she admitted. "Though, I really shouldn't have worn heels. My feet are killing me!"

"Well, do you think your feet would mind if I asked for a dance?" he asked.

Steve was asking her to dance? Well, that was definitely something she didn't expect. She knew Steve for several years now, and not once had she ever seen him dance, or really look interested in such an activity. She knew he had that saying about the right partner, but she figured now that just meant the right person to go out with and whatnot, not actually dancing anymore.

But she smiled. She wasn't much of a dancer herself, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy a dance with him. "I think they'd allow it," she replied.

Steve stood up and offered a hand to help her up. She took it gratefully and followed him, her hand now on his arm just like they normally walked together, down from the outer level, through the crowd on the middle level all the way to the last level where most of the dancers (though there weren't all that many) were occupying.

The song playing through the rooms built in speakers was Adele's One and Only. With her left hand in his right, his hand on her waist and her hand on his arm, Steve and Jamie swayed to the music. They awkwardly stared at one another for a moment before their attentions were pulled towards other things in the room.

Jamie's eyes moved back to Steve after spotting Taylor over by the bar talking to Tony. Steve looked extremely nervous, which, as of late, wasn't as normal as it had been the first year or so she had known him. He licked his lips, and gulped, her eyes trailing down to his throat as his adam's apple moved with the action. His shoulders were tense, almost as if he were in his Captain mode instead of just being Steve off duty.

"Steve?"

He almost seemed to jump at the sound of her voice, almost as if he had forgotten she was there with him. She knew that wasn't it. Perhaps he was just so lost in his thoughts that she had surprised him. "Yeah?" he asked.

"Are you okay?" she asked with a small chuckle. "You seem a little on edge."

"I'm fine," he assured her. "Just didn't think you'd want to dance with me, is all."

"Why?" Jamie asked.

"I don't know," he said. "There were a lot of reasons floating around in my head. Guess you couldn't resist a dance from Captain America though." Now he was trying to play it off as a joke in a rather un-Steve like manner.

"No, Captain America I can resist," Jamie told him. "Steven Grant Rogers is another story altogether."

Her statement seemed to calm him down quite a bit. His posture easing into a much more normal, relaxed stance as they continued to sway. He gently smiled down at her, his blue eyes staring straight into her blues. Both of his hands tightened their grip on her, bringing her in closer to his body slightly.

Steve became a little more nervous again, but not as bad as before. "Later tonight," Steve started to say, "after all this is over, could we talk?"

"Are you sure everything's all right?" she asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no," Steve assured her. "I just, there's something I want to...it's uh…"

"Hey," Jamie said, trying to calm him down. Her hands gave him a reassuring squeeze. _What could_ possibly _have him this nervous?_ "Whatever you have to talk about, don't worry about it. You know you can tell me anything. You're my best friend, after all."

"That's kind of the problem," he said.

"Since when has that been a problem?" Jamie asked, starting to get a little nervous. "If it's important to you, then it's important to me. You have nothing to worry about, Hon. I promise."

Though Steve didn't look like he completely relaxed, he did look a little more hopeful. He smiles softly and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "I know," Steve said with a gentle smile. "That means a lot to me. I hope you know that. _You_ mean a lot to me."

Jamie's heart was pounding inside her chest. She was surprised that Steve couldn't feel it, as their chests were pressed together as they danced. The song came to an end, but the two remained in an embrace, which most likely looked weird as a very upbeat song game on.

Steve's blue eyes were telling her a whole story she never thought she would read. That's what was making her heart pound so heavily. From his words, and his look, the only logical explanation she could possibly come up with was that Steve wanted to talk to her about taking their relationship to the next level. Steve wanted to ask her out. It explained why he was so nervous. It explained why he was flustered. And it definitely explained the tender touch and looks he was giving her.

Jamie's hand slipped to his neck, and her thumb gently rubbed where she could feel his pulse. The action caused his pulse to quicken, and that made her smile gently. "You mean the world to me, Steve," she openly admitted with the hopes that it would give him that last bit of courage to go through with his plan.

The moment was interrupted by Taylor, who came up next to Jamie and wrapped her arm around her waist, pulling her out of Steve's grasp. "Hey, Star Spangled tight ass! Don't steal my second date! SHe's the best drinking partner because she's always the designated driver!"

Sam came over, who happened to be Taylor's date for the evening, clapped Steve on the shoulder. "Come on, let's have another game of pool while the girls go...do girl stuff…"

Jamie gave Steve a pleading look at Taylor dragged her away. There was nothing Steve could do about it though. Once further away, Jamie turned to Taylor with a death glare. "I am so going to kill you," she threatened.

"Nah, bitch," Taylor said, taking a chug of her drink. "You love me now. Hey, tell Sam that Donatello is the best turtle…"

Jamie just stared at her. "What?"

"This...neanderthal likes Raphael," Taylor spat. "Clearly Donatello is the best turtle. Just like Superman is the worst hero you can make a movie about."

"Well, I like Nightwing the best, so I'm always on Batman's team. Not Superman's. But that's so not the point!" Jamie said, trying to get back to why she was mad at Taylor. "You totally ruined my moment. Steve was going to ask me out!"

"Oh shit really?" Taylor gaped. "Fucking finally. Sam owes me $20. But we all owe Nat $50."

Jamie just gaped at Taylor as she went to the bar to get another drink. They were all betting on them? "Wait, what?!"

* * *

 **Damn you Taylor! You ruined a moment. But at least you all know where Steve's mindset it right now. And we all know Jamie will say yes if Steve goes through with it. To be honest, I have had the majority of this chapter written since before I even started Condolence. And I hope everybody really gets how significant it is for Steve to ask Jamie to dance. I mean, we all know the whole Peggy date thing with the dance, but so far in this story, Steve hasn't danced with ANYONE, and so it's really more of a scene showing just how much he really cares for her. I also hope you all enjoyed the chapter and please leave a review to let me know what you think.**

Thanks go to the following for their review on the previous chapter:

 ** _The girl with no life_** \- Me too! And yeah, I wanted to jump right into the movie. Can you believe we're this far into the universe? Sometimes I find it hard to believe.

 _ **Jo**_ \- Thank you. I'm glad you love it.

 **FelixFelicis02** -Hmmm, what does this chapter make you think in terms of them getting together? I laughed so hard when I read your post thinking about this chapter.

 _ **Jedi Jelsa777-**_ I know, the begining of this movie is so casual and mellow, with such great teamwork. Then everything hits the fan and ruins the atmosphere. And they never really get it back since Cap Civil War comes after.

 ** _CJ/OddBall _** \- So no jealousy scene, but I do hope you really liked the direction the chapter went in. But you did get an elegant looking Jamie and a complimenting Steve.


	4. Taketh Away

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel, Avengers 2, etc. I just own Jamie.**

* * *

Chapter 4

Taketh Away

Jamie wasn't a party person. That's been said over and over again. What she was far more comfortable with were small gatherings of friends, just like the afterparty of Thor's farewell bash. It wasn't anything fancy. They had drinks and Chinese food, which was why Jamie was eating her third eggroll. Jamie has even changed into a pair of leggings under her dress so she could comfortably sit with her legs crossed under her as she saw next to Steve on the couch.

The group was all together, sitting in a square. Jamie was on one couch next to Steve, with Thor on his other side. To Jamie's left sat Rhodey and Tony in individual chairs. Straight across Jamie, across the coffee table, was Maria Hill, Clint in the middle, and Bruce, who was turned to Nat who was on the final side. She sat in a chair by herself, with Dr. Cho fast asleep on a loveseat to her left.

Jamie sighed and turned to her side, resting her head against Steve's shoulder, her arms wound around it. All the socializing had made her more tired than the actual work they did several days prior.

Steve turned his head to look at her. "Hey, you okay?" he asked gently.

"Mhm," She hummed back, glancing up at him. "You're just comfortable."

"You sure?" he asked. "You seem tired."

"I am tired. Socializing does that to people," she answered with a chuckle.

"Tell me about it. Except for you and Sam, of course," he said, adding on that last part with a small smirk.

"Aw, that's sweet. Thank you," she giggled.

"That's me. Sweet ol' Steve," he said with a smile.

"Yeah, that's what I love about you," she added, drawing shapes on his forearm.

"Really?" he asked, furrowing his brow. "Not too...soft?"

"It's a nice balance," Jamie told him. "Soft and sweet it a good balance for everything that we have to do."

"Do you ever feel out of balance?" Steve asked.

"All the time," she answered honestly. "It's just a matter of finding your footing again."

"Would you tell me if you need help?"he asked.

"Of course. As long as you do the same. I'll be your crutch, Steve," she told him, pulling back just enough to look up at him better.

"Jamie, I wouldn't want to lean on anyone else," he told her.

"Then I'm glad I'm that person for you."

There had been many conversation topics as the group of adults drank away to good company. Eventually, the conversation landed on the topic of Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. The said hammer was currently resting on the glass coffee table, the focal point of the entire group relaxing on the couches and chairs.

"But, it's a trick!" Clint accused.

"Oh, no. It's much more than that," Thor answered.

"Uh, "Whoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!" Whatever man! It's a _trick_!" Clint insisted.

"Well please," Thor said, motioning to the weapon. "Be my guest."

"Come on," Tony

"Really?" Clint asked, sounding bewildered that Thor was actually letting him do it.

"Yeah!" Thor answered again.

"Oh this is gonna be beautiful," Rhodey muttered.

Clint got up and Tony couldn't help but add in his two cents. "Clint, you've had a tough week. We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up."

"You just have to make things perverted, don't you," Jamie chuckled along with the others.

"You know, I've seen this before, right?" Clint said. He grabbed the hammer and tried to lift it with a groan, but couldn't lift it. "I still don't know how you do it."

"Smell the silent judgement?" Tony asked.

"Please, Stark, by all means," Clint said, moving away for Tony to give it a try. Tony, in turn, got up to do just that.

"Oh, here we go," Nat muttered.

"Okay," Hill added.

There were various other little comments, like Rhodey's "Uh-oh" and Clint's "Um-hm." It was all very amusing, but like the grew knew far too well, thing could get out of hand very easily when it came to them.

"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge," Tony said.

"You seriously just had to use the word 'shrink,' didn't you?" Jamie groaned, rolling her eyes.

"Get after it," Clint ushered. Tony was stalling.

"Here we go," Nat groaned.

"It's physics," Tony clarified.

"Physics!" Bruce repeated humorously.

Tony wrapped the strap of the handle around his wrist and grasped the handle and, just before pulling, looked to Thor to ask "Right, so, if I lift it, I-I then rule Asgard?"

"Yes, of course," Thor answered.

"I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta," Tony stated. He tried to lift the hammer, but it didn't budge. He let go, and looked at it them a moment before muttering, "I'll be right back." And he was, with his armored hand from his Iron Man suit. He tried to lift it again with the aid of the propulsors, but it still didn't move.

"Little help here, Rhodey?" Tony shot out.

And a couple minutes later, Rhodey had his own glove on, trying to help Rhodey lift the damn hammer.

"Are you even pulling?" Rhodey asked.

"Are you on my team?" Tony asked.

"Just represent! Pull!"

"Alright, let's go!" Tony said.

The two pulled as hard as they could, all the while being watched by a group of teammates laughing their asses off. Steve had shifted his arm out of Jamie's hold, and let it rest on the back of the couch, while his hand sat on Jamie's shoulder, which allowed Jamie to move in closer to Steve as they laughed away.

"Neither of you are going to pick it up. Perhaps it's best to leave what little dignity you have left in tact," Jamie suggested.

"Would anybody else like to try?" Thor asked though. This was just too amusing to him to let go.

Bruce got up to try next. He grabbed it with both his hands and pulled with all his might, standing on the table. He let his hands slip off as he roared, teasing as if he would change into the Hulk. Pretty much everybody just stared at him, like his joke was just a bad one. Not in the sense that it was inappropriate, but like a bad pun. Nat just grinned.

"Steve, you wanna go?" Jamie asked, shifting away from him. Steve smirked and nodded. He got up, and walked up to the hammer.

"Let's go, Steve, no pressure," Tony teased.

"Come on, Cap!" Clint cheered.

Steve gripped the hammer, and Jamie thought she may have been seeing things, but he managed to make it budge just a little. He was not, however, able to pick it up. Jamie looked over to Thor to see what his reaction was, and she saw that he laughed, with a look of relief.

"Nothing," he muttered.

"And?" Tony asked for another contender.

"Widow?" Bruce asked.

"Oh, no, no. That's not a questions I need answered," Nat clarified.

"Jamie?" Steve asked, plopping down in his previous spot, arm going back around her shoulders.

"No, I'm good. I'd rather not know," she said.

"Really? Why?" Steve asked.

"I'd like to think I'm a good person, and that I'd be worthy, but if I try and fail then I'll just be disappointed in myself. I'm good as I am," she answered.

"Nicely put," Steve complimented.

"She's just scared she'll lose," Tony said. Jamie just rolled her eyes. "All deference to the man who won't be king, but it's rigged."

"You bet your ass," Clint agreed.

"Steve, he said a bad language word!" Hill pointed out.

Steve looked to Tony and asked, "Did you tell everyone about that?"

Tony quickly changed the subject and continued to address Thor on the hammer. "The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. "Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints" is, I think, the literal translation?"

"Yes, well that's, uh, that's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one," Thor said. He got up from his seat and picked up the hammer and flipped it. "You're all not worthy."

Jamie just laughed as everybody that tried groaned and made various disgruntled disagreements to that statement. Before the conversation could go any further though, there was a loud screech, like when a microphone got too close to the speakers.

" _Woooooorthy_."

The group collectively turned to see who had said that. What they saw was...distrerbing, to say the least. What hobbled towards them from the opposite side of the room was a husk, almost skeleton of one of the legionnaires that Tony controlled. It spoke in a deep male voice.

"No, how could you be worthy? You're all killers," it said.

Jamie slowly rose from the sofa, her bare feet touched the cold floor. Jamie didn't know where that statement was coming from. Sure, they weren't innocent, but they were protectors. The end justified the means. Even then, they didn't always sleep well at night.

"Stark," Steve said, not even needing to give him the order.

"JARVIS," Tony called out.

"I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or," it said. "I was a dream?"

"Reboot, Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit," Tony went on ordering, tapping away at his phone.

"There was a terrible noise, and I was tangle in...in _strings_ ," it said. "I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."

"You killed someone?" Steve asked.

"Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world we're faced with ugly choies," It said.

"Who sent you?" Thor demanded.

The robot played a recording over it's speakers. It sounded exactly like Tony, if not with a little added white noise in the background. " _I see a suit of armor around the world."_

 _Tony has something to do with this?_ Jamie thought, glancing to the man. _But why? How?_

"Ultron!" Bruce exclaimed in realization.

"In the flesh," it, Ultron, whatever that was, answered. "Or, no, not yet. Not this... _chrysalis_. But I'm ready. I'm on mission."

"What mission?" Natasha asked.

"Peace in out time," Ultron said.

The rest of the Legionnaires busted through the wall behind Ulton, and jetted towards the group of heroes. Jamie gasped, and Steve put himself in front of her protectively. He picked up the coffee table to use as a barrier as the bot that flew at them. It didn't stop it though. It just sent the two backwards over the couch, and down the steps to the floor.

There was another gasp that escaped her lips as she looked up to see the Legionnaire raise it's arm to blast the two. This time, it was Jamie that acted first. She grabbed Steve and the two rolled. The spot they had previously been in was now scorched. Once they stopped, Jamie lifted her hand and blasted a blue shot of energy towards it.

Unfortunately, the bot dodge, but it gave the two a chance to get to cover.

"You okay?" Steve asked, her, checking her over as quickly as he possibly could.

"I'm good, you?" Jamie asked.

"Yeah," he answered, peaking over the ledge of the drop the had taken cover in. "We gotta take those things out."

"Any ideas?" Jamie asked.

"Just one…" Steve muttered before he jumped out, and jumped up onto the back of one of the Legionnaire's back.

She raised her hand to wait for her opportunity for a shot, but it kept moving around too much, and with Steve on it's back, she couldn't risk hitting him. It blasted backwards, ramming Steve off the wall. Steve fell to the ground rather painfully. Jaime ran over to him to give him some cover so they could move back to the cover they had just been under. "That wasn't a very good plan," Jamie muttered.

"Stark!" Steve ordered to do something.

"One sec!" Tony called back, almost in the same exact situation with another Legionnaire. "One sec. I got this."

There was another shot fired towards the two, and both Jamie and Steve rolled away to dodge. Each went in the opposite way. Jamie got back to her feet, firing at the one of the bots heading towards Natasha, just as she shot with a handgun.

Finally, Thor and Steve took out the last Legionnaire, and that just left the Ultron husk.

"That was dramatic," Ultron said.

Jamie turned back to the robot, and left her hand raised towards it, ready to shoot in case it had anything else up it's sleeve. If that thing could control the Legionnaires, then the chances he could hack into other sections of the tower meant a far greater danger.

"I'm sorry. I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to...evolve?" Ultron leaned down and picked up one of the dismantled Legions. "With these? These puppets? There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction."

Thor growled and threw Mjolnir, breaking Ultron. It wasn't completely dead though. As it slowly died, the body continued to play in the same eerie voice. " _I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me. No strings on me."_

* * *

Not even ten minutes later, the whole "party" had shifted into the lab to try and figure out what the hell had just happened. Maria and Dr. Cho patches themselves up. For once, Jamie was left unscratched. The whole thing had kind of shaken her up a bit. She stood off to the side, leaning back against one of the glass windows overlooking the mess down below in the living area. She had her arms wrapped around herself, slowly rubbing her bare arms. Thor was the only one not present. He had gone after the one Legionnaire that had gotten away. Gotten away with the sceptre, no less.

"All our work is gone," Bruce said. "Ultron cleared out, used the internet as an escape hatch.

"Ultron," Steve muttered.

"He's been in everything," Nat said, turning away from one of the computers. "Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other."

"That's not exactly hard," Jamie muttered.

"He's in your files. He's in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting," Rhodey spitballed.

"Nuclear codes," Hill finished. She was sitting in an office chair with a pair of tweezers in her hand, picking out glass from the bottom of her feet.

"Nuclear codes," Rhodey repeated. "Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can."

"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead," Nat said.

"He didn't say dead. He said extinct," Steve corrected.

"Why extinct? That supposed to mean he wants to make it so nobody ever becomes an Avengers, or anything like it, again?" Jamie asked.

"Who knows?" Nat said.

"He also said he killed somebody," Clint brought up.

"But there was nobody else in the building," Hill clarified, or tried to.

"How can we be sure about that?" Jamie asked. "It's a big building."

"Yes there was." Tony walked to the middle of the room, and by using his phone, brought up a hologram of something all messed up, and Jamie had no idea to make of it.

Bruce walked closer. He opened his arms, encasing just a fraction of the shattered hologram. "This is insane," he said.

"What is it?" Jamie asked.

"JARVIS," Bruce answered.

 _That thing is JARVIS?_ Jamie asked. _He killed JARVIS? No…_

"JARVIS was the first line of defense," Steve said. "He would've shut Ultron down, it makes sense."

"No, Ultron could've assimilated JARVIS. This isn't strategy, this is...rage," Bruce said.

Thor finally arrived back, not dressed in his traditional Asgardian uniform. He boots thumped with each step as he moved with determination to Tony. Once he met Tony, he grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up off the ground, through the hologram, dissipating it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Clint said. "It's going around."

"Come on. Use your words, Buddy," Tony managed to get out.

"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark," Thor muttered.

"Thor! The Legionnaire," Steve said, getting Thor back on directive.

It worked. Thor dropped Tony forcefully to the ground, and looked to Steve. "Trail went cold about a hundred miles out, but it's headed north, and it has the sceptre. Ow we have to retrieve it. _Again_."

"The genie's out of the bottle. Clear and present is Ultron," Nat said.

"I don't understand," Cho said. "You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?"

Tony turned his back to the rest of the group, and it almost sounded like he was laughing. It was either from shock, or something else, and Jamie honestly hoped it was shock, otherwise Tony had a whole lot more shit to deal with. And from the look on Bruce's face as he shook his head to get him to stop, it wasn't shock.

"You think this is funny?" Thor asked.

"No?" Tony said, turning around. "It's probably not, right? Is this very terrible? Is it so...is it so...it is. It's so terrible."

"What's gotten into you?" Jamie asked.

"This could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand," Thor said.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It _is_ funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this," Tony went on.

"Yeah, he's definitely lost it," Jamie muttered.

"Tony, maybe this might not be the time to…" Bruce started to warn.

"Really? That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls?" Tony said.

"Only when I've created a murder bot!" Bruce explained.

"We didn't. We weren't even close! Were we close to an interface?" Tony asked.

"Well, you did something right," Steve said. "And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD."

"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony asked.

It seemed there was a collective eye roll. Rhodey was the only one to mutter back to Tony's continued reminder to all there about what he did a couple years about during the Battle of New York.

"No, it's never come up," Rhodes said.

"Saved New York?"

"Never heard that."

"Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but, that up there?" he pointed to the sky. "That's...that's the end game. How were you guys planning on beating that?"

" _Together_ ," Steve answered.

"We'll lose," Tony shot back.

"Then we'll do that together too," Steve said. Steve and Tony looked at one another for a long moment, before turning away. "Thor's right. Ultron's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."

The team dispersed to do their own jobs in trying to find Ulton. Jamie walked out of the lab to go to her room and change. Steve was headed to do the same.

"You okay?" Steve asked, only glancing at her as they entered the elevator. Steve pressed the buttons for their floors, and they started to head down.

"Yeah, I'm okay. A little…." Jamie muttered, trailing off. "A little...I'm taken aback, I guess. This was definitely not how I thought the night would go."

"You and me both."

Jamie sighed and glanced up at Steve. Her version of the night would have ended with him asking her out. And now, she supposed, wasn't exactly a good time to ask him about what he wanted to talk about, but then again, who knew if they'd get another chance. She didn't want to risk letting this chance get away from her. She just hoped it was what she thought it was.

The elevator stopped on Steve's floor, and the doors opened. Steve nodded to her and started to get off.

"Steve?" Jamie asked hesitantly, her cheeks a tad bit red.

"Yeah?" He asked, turning back to look at her. He placed his hand on the door to prevent it from closing and interrupting their conversation.

"What...what was it you wanted to talk about earlier?" Jamie asked.

Steve's expression fell, and his coloring went paler. That was definitely not a good sign. "It's uh...not really important anymore. Forget about it, okay?" he said, making his voice seem as light as he could. "I changed my mind."

Steve stepped back and let the door close.

And it wasn't the elevator door.

* * *

 **Poor Jamie, things were looking up for a while, until Ultron came. You can all blame Tony for Steve changing his mind on not asking Jamie out. It's all his fault. Anyway, I hope you guys "like" the chapter. I know a lot of you will be mad, but I still hope you enjoyed the reading. Let me know what you thought!**

Thanks go to the following for their reviews on the previous chapter:

 ** _CJ/OddBall_** \- Mmm, yeah, so bummer. No dating.

 ** _FelixFelicis02_** \- ...and one giant step backwards in their relationship. Steve's an idiot...and I'm mean. I'm so mean to my characters. Poor Jamie. God, I'm evil. lol.

 _ **Jedi Jelsa777-**_ The numbers are lower because realistically, the only one with a lot of money is Tony. Everybody else is normal, so they don't want to lose a whole lot of money. At least, that's the way I see it.

 ** _Jo_ ** \- And I ruined the moment even more.

 _ **StillDoll13** _ \- You're such a dork.

 _ **The girl with no life-**_ ...You were kinda right. Lol.


	5. Hollow

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel, Avengers 2, etc. I just own Jamie.**

* * *

Chapter 5

Hollow

There had been a whole lot of wasting of water that evening. Jamie stood for more than an hour in the shower after the events of that night. It wasn't because she was sore. It wasn't because she was tired. It was purely because of how hollow Jamie was feeling.

After pining over Steve for so long, more than a year knowingly, and unknowingly to make it even longer, Jamie was left feeling hurt, and empty, with a tightness in her chest that made her think she had heartburn (but she knew otherwise. She didn't get heartburn because of her powers, just like how did couldn't get sick).

Jamie just couldn't believe Steve had said that it wasn't important. He just changed his mind, and just completely disregarded his feelings for her. Or, at least, she thought he had feelings for her. Maybe he had wanted to talk about something completely different than what she had thought. Maybe he didn't like her, and many he wasn't going to ask her out. But then why was that whole situation so romantic, and person?

Jamie was driving herself crazy.

After torturing herself all morning by asking herself those questions, and doubting herself, Jamie finally just shoved all her feelings aside to work. This left her feeling hollow, and nothing at all. If this was how she had to work for the time being while they dealt with this Ultron situation, then so be it. She could work through her feeling later when lives weren't on the line.

Her behavior hadn't gone unnoticed by members of the team though. As Jamie sat on one of the computers in the lab doing work to help track down Ultron (not that she completely knew what she was doing), Nat kept looking over to her as sigh after sigh escaped the brunette.

"What's up with you?" Nat asked without looking away from her monitor.

"Hm?" Jamie hummed.

"What's up with you?" Nat asked. "Something wrong?"

"I'll be fine once all this is over," Jamie said.

Though she was making it sound like these events were the reason for her state. It was clear by the look that Nat turned and shot at her that she didn't believe her whatsoever, but she didn't press. Nat wasn't exactly one for emotional forwardness to begin with. Jamie was off, she knew, but this didn't appear to be anything that would get in the way of their work. Jamie would never let that happen. After all, she did give her life during the Battle of New York. Natasha trusted her judgement, as much Tasha actually trusted people.

"Okay, whatever you say," Nat muttered.

A little while later, Steve had every gather in the lab so that he could inform them that Ultron had killed Baron Strucker, one of the head HYDRA guys that had captured (though he surrendered) during their last mission when they retrieved Loki's sceptre back. He had been in prison, safe from causing anybody else any harm.

Guess it wasn't a safe place for him though. By the photos Steve was showing the group, Strucker's dead body was propped up, and written in his own blood on the wall was "Peace." It was very eerie, the blood dripping down from the letters.

"What's this?" Tony asked.

"A message," Steve clarified. "Ultron killed Shucker."

"And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us," Tony muttered.

"This is a smokescreen," Nat said. "Why send a message when you've just given a speech?"

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss," Steve pointed out.

"Like what?" Jamie asked. This wasn't exactly Jamie's forte here. She didn't play mind games. She just liked to be told what to do, and to do it. She liked orders. Orders made things simple. Simple was easy.

"Yeah, I bet he…" Nat muttered as she moved to look at the computer she had been working on. She typed away and then continued to speak once she found what she wanted. Or lack thereof. "Yep. Everything we had on Strucker has been erased."

"Not everything," Tony corrected.

Twenty minutes later, all of the old files that Tony had from the SSR and SHIELD were in the lab, and everybody was digging through them for any leads. What exactly they were looking for wasn't clear to anybody. That was kind of the point. They had no idea what Ultron knew, and what he didn't want them to know. This could take a long time.

"Known associates," Steve said. "Well, Strucker has a lot of friends."

"Well, these people are all horrible," Bruce stated.

And it was true. From the files Jamie had looked through, Strucker had done some really horrible stuff. A whole lof of Josef Mengele type sick shit that really made Jamie want to throw up. She was just glad that this kind of stuff didn't happen to Gerard while he was with Cerberus. They were horrible, and they tortured and experimented, but there was still a fine line between Mengele and Cerberus.

"Wait, I know that guy!" Tony exclaimed. This caused Bruce to pause, instead of tossing the photo back into a pile or one of the boxes. He passed him the photo. "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast, black market arms."

Steve gave him a scrutinizing look, but Jamie didn't think Tony meant it in the way that it came out. Not like he usually did. "There are conventions, alright? You meet people, I didn't sell him anything," Tony explained. "It's Ulysses Klaue. He was talking about finding something new, a game changer, it was al very 'Ahab.'"

Thor moved over to look as well. He pointed ont of his big fingers onto the photo, on the man's neck. "This," he said.

"Uh, it's a tattoo. I don't think he had it…" Tony muttered.

"No, those are tattoos, this is a brand," Thor clarified.

Bruce moved over to the computer and started looking for a match for the brand symbol. Jamie moved over to stand behind him to look over his shoulder as images zoomed through. It didn't take long for a match to come up. Bruce and Jamie quickly read through the information.

"Uh, yeah, it's a word in an African dialect meaning thief, in a much less friendly way," Bruce said.

"What dialect?" Steve asked.

"Wakanada…?" Bruce tried, but he read, or pronounced the name wrong. "Wa...Wa.."

"Wakanda," Jamie said for him.

"Wakanda!" Bruce exclaimed, finally able to say it with Jamie's help. He was brilliant, but Wakanda wasn't easy to say, and neither were a whole lot of Arabic or Hebrew that she learned to deal with while in the military.

Steve and Tony quickly turned to each other, knowing something the other teammates didn't. "If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods…" Tony muttered.

"I thought your father said he got the last of it?" Steve asked.

"I don't follow," Bruce said.

"Yeah, you got me," Jamie added, crossing her arms.

"What comes out of Wakanda?" Bruce asked.

"The strongest metal on Earth," Tony answered.

"Where is this guy now?" Steve asked.

"I don't know, but we'll find out," Tony said.

* * *

 **I know this doesn't really have a whole lot of Jamie it, or very detailed, but that's actually on purpose. Because Jamie feels so hollow right now, I wanted to try and make the chapter feel that way to. So not too many descriptions and whatnot. All intentional for once! lol Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter even though it's short. Next chapter will be a lot longer. So much going on in the next chapter!** **Please leave a review to let me know what you thought!**

Thanks go to the following for their reviews on the previous chapter:


	6. No Lullaby

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel. I just own Jamie.**

* * *

Chapter 6

No Lullaby

Jamie still didn't love flying. She didn't like being cramped and stuck in one small place for very long. And right now, she really didn't like being stuck in a small space where she couldn't get away from Steve.

It was a bit childish, the way she was acting, but right now, it pained her to see Steve. She could deal with it, of course. She wasn't that dramatic and unreasonable, but that constricting feeling in her chest was constantly there. She had no distraction. Once they arrived, and the mission began, she'd be better because she could focus on the task at hand. But in that plane? Jamie would've rather flown all the way there on her own.

Once the arrived in the Salvage Yard off the African Coast, stashing the jet where it was undetectable, the team dispersed, covertly entering the large ship. By the time they had arrived, they found Ultron, with the two enhanced individuals at a volt filled with vibranium. Klaue had two lackeys with him.

Waiting for the perfect moment to make their presence known, the team waited above and watched. Patience was a virtue, after all.

"But I always say, "Keep your friends rich and your enemies rich and wait to find out which is which."" Ultron said.

"Stark," Klaue muttered.

"What?" Ultron asked. He didn't follow, and neither did anybody else.

"Tony Stark used to say that," Klaue answered. "To me. You're one of his."

"What? I'm not…" Ultron was very clearly agitated by that accusation. He grabbed Klaue's arm. The lackey behind him raised his gun, but Wanda used her telekinetic power to keep the gun pointed down. "I'm not. You think I'm one of Stark's puppets? His hollow men? I mean, look at me. Do I look like Iron Man? Stark is nothing!"

Ultron raised his hand and just like a razor sharp butcher's knife, took off Klaue's arm in one swift movement.

"I'm sorry. I'm...ooh. I'm sure that's gonna be okay. I'm sorry. It's just that I don't understand. Don't compare me with Stark!" Ultron raised his food and kicked Klaue backwards down the stairs. "It's a thing with me. Stark is...he's a sickness."

Steve gave the signal and the team descended.

"Ah, Junior," Tony said. "You're gonna break your old man's heart."

"If I have to," Ultron said.

"Nobody has to break anything," Thor said.

"Clearly you've never made an omelette," Ultron said.

"He beat me by one second," Tony remarked.

"Ah, yes. This is funny, Mr. Stark," Pietro said. "It's what? Comfortable? Like old times?" It was clear that Pietro believed that Tony had always intentionally sold to whoever paid (which had been Obadiah Stane).

"This was never my life," Tony clarified.

"You two can still walk away from this," Steve said.

"Oh, we will," Wanda said.

"I know you've suffered," Steve went on.

"Ah, Captain America. God's righteous man. Pretending you could live without a war," Ultron said. "I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but…"

"He's just trying to get into your head," Jamie told him.

"If you believe in peace, then let us keep it," Thor said.

"I think you're confusing "peace" with "quiet.""  
"Yeah-huh, what' the vibranium for?" Tony asked.

"I'm glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan," Ultron said.

He was being facetious, of course. Instead, right when he was done with his sentence, he pulled Tony forward using an electromagnet build into him, then blasted him backwards into Jamie. The two smashed into the wall hard, and Jamie could've sworn she cracked some ribs. It would've been worse though if Jamie hadn't used a pulse of her own to cushion the crash.

Tony didn't take much time to make sure Jamie was okay. In fact, he didn't take any time at all. Once he was able to move the way he liked, he rocketed forward and slammed into Ultron, taking the fight into the air of the confined space.

"Wow, the first bady that doesn't have a villainous monologue," Jamie muttered lunging forward just like Tony had done, though this time it was Jamie making contact with one of the reproductions Ultron had created. Once she fired the "brain" of the bot with a two handed pulse to the head, Jamie turned, Wanda standing right next to her.

Jamie's hands glowed, just as Wanda's did. Blue against Red, it seemed. Jamie was hesitant, however. Wanda was clearly young. Not necessarily a child, but young enough to be strayed off the right path. Just like she had been when she was taken.

Or Gerard. If Jamie had never been taken and met the child, and the power did take to his DNA, would he be in this same boat as the Maximoffs? Would he be like Aaron? More hesitation as a flash of the young boy's eyes flashed in her memory, and then the dreaded memory of the gun going off with the young boy's body falling limply to the ground.

Wanda's energy decapitated, her eyes narrowing when her head turned curiously. So just as Wanda lowered her guard, Jamie lowered her own. Jamie was more because she was confused, and still affected by the memory playing behind her eyes.

" _Could use a little air support, Jamie!"_ Tony called out.

The smart thing to have done would've been to blast Wanda right then and there. But the fact that she was still a child, and with Jamie's history, she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, Jamie took two steps back, then flew out of the ship via the whole Tony and Ultron had created.

It took her a good while before she caught up with Ultron and Tony. she couldn't see them, but the noise off in the distance was enough to direct her in the right way. Tony was blasted backwards, and before he could regain control and Ultron could attack again, Jamie shot several blasts to the metal man. This sent Ultron in another direction. And while he tried to regain control, Tony shot forward, throwing Ultron into the hull of a stranded ship.

Jamie landed next to Tony, her feet sinking into the muck. Both Avengers raised their hands, ready to shoot at the bot.

"Uh, the vibranium is getting away," Ultron stated.

"And you're not going anywhere," Tony said.

"Of course not. I'm already there," Ultron retorted. "You'll catch on. But first, you might need to catch Dr. Banner."

That was the last straw. Tony shot, and in less than a second later, the two were in the air, Jamie following Tony's lead.

"They didn't actually-"

"I wouldn't put it passed them," Tony interrupted.

New or footage. Keyword, "Hulk."" Tony instructed JARVIS. From what Jamie could hear from the speakers in Tony's helmet, they actually did unleash the Hulk.

"Natasha, I could really use a lullaby," Tony said.

" _That's not gonna happen,"_ Clint answered. " _Not for a while."_

"Is she okay?" Jamie asked.

" _Yeah, but the whole team is down. You got no backup here."_

"You wouldn't happen to know how to work the lullaby, would you?" Tony asked.

"Not a chance," Jamie answered.

"I'm calling in Veronica," Tony decided.

Now, Veronica was a last resource, so to come to the point to need it really didn't reassure Jamie any whatsoever. The rumor behind the name of the HulkBuster program was that it was named "Veronica" after the two scientists had gone on a huge debate over which female character in _Archie,_ Betty or Veronica, was better. Jamie wasn't exactly sure which man had won, but it was obviously whomever had liked Veronica better. This had all happened while she was working at SHIELD during her departure.

Jamie liked to think it was because of Heathers: The Musical. It was wishful thinking, but if anybody knew the musical, the main character Veronica was the heroine of the story. Plus, she was a sucker for musicals. It was definitely wishful thinking. It so wasn't that. But who wouldn't believe that if they didn't know the original story? It was funny to tell people that it was because of the musical and have people ask Tony about it.

"Where we headed?" Jamie asked.

"You sure you're up for this?" Tony asked. "You're not exactly built of vibranium."

"I can't just let this happen. Bruce will never forgive himself if something happens," Jamie said.

"Suit yourself," Tony said.

The HulkBuster suit came soaring in, and Jamie had to move out of the way in order to avoid getting knocked out of the air because of it. Once all of the armor was added on, Jamie knew that Tony had to go ahead. With the added propulsion from the new gear, he could get there so much faster than she could. And if that meant stopping the Hulk sooner rather than later...

"You go ahead. I'll meet you there!"

Tony didn't need to be told twice.

* * *

Jamie arrived just as Tony needed a moment to make some replacements. He had a very large bole sticking out of the HulkBuster arm, and a new one was needed. To give Tony this time to make the changes, Jamie flew up to Hulk, though at a safer distance, and made sure he could see her.

"Hey!" she yelled.

When he eyes landed on her, he roared out like a wild animal, but when Jamie put in her plan, he hesitated and watched what she was doing.

Now, Jamie always denied the fact that she glowed blue. Always. But in this instance she was using that fact to her advantage. What was one method of calming someone down? Distract them with a soothing light. By fluctuating the blue glow around her in a consistent manner, she tried to almost put Hulk in a trance to calm him down.

Slowly, he made his way over to her. He was still unsure of what she was, but he was far more intrigued than anything else. Jamie flew down lower to try and help get him to come down. "That's it," she muttered. "I'm not here to hurt you."

However. Once he saw the figure of a person behind the light, he grew more agitated again. Hulk ran forward, and since the distance had already been closed between them, he got ot her before she could back away. Jamie curled herself into a little ball, and just as he was about to grab her, surged her energy outward. The blaring hot energy burned his hand (though no physical damage was ever done to the beast). It did make his recoil.

Jamie uncurled, and as she raised her hands to shoot up a blast seeing as her only peaceful idea was now shot out the window, she needed to attack and fast. Close combat was what Hulk was best at, and with Jamie without any armor, it was definitely not how she wanted, or needed to fight.

Energy surges were usually used as a last ditch attempt to protect herself, and to get distance between her and the enemy (or to take out a large amount of people at once, but this was definitely not that), but it did require her to use a whole lot of energy. It exhausted her, and having to use that right at the beginning of a fight was no good sign as to how the fight would turn out for her in the end.

Hulk reached out and grabbed her around the middle of her body, then threw the girl into the road, creating a little crater around where she made impact. Jamie screamed out in pain, and then was forced to gasp for air seeing as she no longer had any left in her body. Hulk raised his arms, both firsts together, and swung them down to smash into the body of the woman. Jamie had just managed to surge up another barrier as he did so, but the force against the barrier was so strong that it surged backwards to her. He didn't stop with just one hit though.

One after another, Hulk pummeled into the barrier at an attempt to get to the woman. Each time the strength of the barrier would diminish, allowing it to be forced back towards Jamie with each hit. And with each hit meant more damage done to Jamie's already injured body. Jamie cried out in utter pain, pleading to Hulk, or Banner, whichever she could get to, to just stop. It wasn't about saving Bruce at this point. It was about surviving.

Eventually, Jamie passed out from the bone crushing pressure and pain from the impacts. The barrier was gone, and Hulk took advantage of the access to her. In order to make sure she wouldn't be around to bother him again, Hulk held her body in one hand and threw her as hard as he could. Jamie ended up going through more than a dozen street stands before she skidded off the ground to a stop.

Splinters and rubble embedded into her skin, bruises forming oh so quickly that would make doctors fear for internal bleeding. But, Tony had the time he needed to repair his suit, and once Hulk was done with Jamie, Tony took her place with no clue of what happened to his teammate whatsoever.

* * *

 **Jamie cannot catch a break...or at least I won't let her. I'm so mean to her. First I break her heart. Then I break her bones. What else do I have to break other than her mind...? Oh wait, I've already done that with Steve and Gerard. Lol Hope you guys liked the chapter. Let me know what you think in a review please!**

Thanks go to the following for their reviews on the previous chapter:

 _ **Jo- ..**_.I wouldn't recommend hugging Jamie right now. lol I think it would cause her more pain than her heart is.

 ** _19irene96_ ** \- I hope it was worth the wait!

 _ **FelixFelicis02-**_ I promise they get together this book! Just...not yet. lol

 ** _Jedi Jelsa777_** \- Yeah, there was this whole thing with uploads last week and whatnot, and I'm assuming it may have effect the reviews. Otherwise nobody reviewed and that makes me a little sad. :( Oh well. I got them now. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter. And just to say, I do post this story every Wednesday EST no matter what, so if you check in the evening to see if it's there even if there wasn't an alert, it should be there. I follow my schedule pretty strictly now.

 _ **The girl with no life**_ \- Well, no true fear for Jamie. I didn't have that happen to her because I've already touched base on what her biggest fear is (everything that happened with G), so that's why I had the little interaction with Wanda. Wanda could see what she was thinking/her flash back, so she didn't even attempt at moving forward with doing the whole mind thing with her.

 _ **CJ/OddBall** _ \- Hell yeah they would! I'd kick his ass if I wasn't the one that...made him...do it...I'm such a mean writer! I've already touched base on what her biggest fear is (everything that happened with G), so that's why I had the little interaction with Wanda. Wanda could see what she was thinking/her flash back, so she didn't even attempt at moving forward with doing the whole mind thing with her. Honestly, I still have to think about if I want to change Steve's vision and make that come up/get covered. I've been debating. I guess we'll find out at some point. Who knows? I sure as hell don't. lol

 _ **MissJBear** _ \- I'm still debating what I want to do with Aaron, honestly. I'm open for anything. lol


	7. Broken Family

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel. I just own Jamie.**

* * *

Chapter 7

Broken Family

Once Bruce had been secured, Tony brought him back to the jet for protection for him, and everybody else. Once that was done, Tony returned back to the sight of the incident to find Jamie, who was unresponsive over comms. It didn't take him long to find her in the rubble of the events that had taken place. Even if this malfunctioning equipment, he could still track the tracking device she had in her uniform (Each member had on, accept the Hulk, because no matter how many times they attempted to do so, it always came off when he Hulked out. Whether that was intentionally done by the Hulk, or if it just happened to happen was unknown).

Tony eventually found her buried under a pile of wood from a crumbled street stand. The brunette was unconscious, and clearly in bad shape. The second he picked the woman up, she cried out from the shifting of the broken bones along her abdomen. He needed to get her back to the jet for her injection to speed up her feeling process, and she needed it yesterday.

Amir, along with some theories from Dr. Simmons, had helped to create an injection with a fusion of the type of energy that Jamie produced, and the chemicals that they had used to create her ability in the first place, to help speed up her healing process, and to give her the equivalent of an Andenogy shot for when her energy was nearly or completely depleted.

It was created for this very situation. By the time he returned with Jamie, Bruce was wrapped up in a blanket with headphones on, trying to distract himself from everything that had just happened. The rest of the team had made their way there as well. Everyone except for Clint had been affected by Wanda's mind trance, and even though they had broken out of it, it left them all very occupied by their thoughts, and definitely not with their head on the mission.

Clint was there to greet them, the syringe in hand just waiting to be of use. The whole way there the poor woman was in constant pain, moaning and gasping with every single movement. They placed her on the large table, that acted as a stretcher (the very same that Clint had been on several days prior).

"Jamie?" Steve asked, catching sight of the movement as they laid her down. It was just enough to temporarily break him out of his funk. He moved closer and looked over the woman, who wasn't taking in anything of her surroundings through the pain. "What happened?"

"She went a couple rounds with the Hulk," Tony answered.

"She did what?!" Steve nearly growled.

Tony rolled her sleeve up and got the needle from Clint. "Well, I needed backup, and everyone else was otherwise indisposed…" Tony answered, not too pleased that Steve was putting this all on him. Primarily because he was already blaming himself.

When the needle slid into her arm, and the content missed with her blood, Jamie gasped. Pain was the first sensation to come, as the chemicals moved rapidly throughout her body, then went to the damaged areas inside her to start to rapidly heal and correct them.

"Okay, I need your help to help set her bones again," Tony told the other two. "They're already starting to heal, but they're in the wrong places."

"So you have to break them again," Clint finished.

"Is that really necessary?" Steve asked.

"I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't," Tony said. "Now, hold her down. She's not going to like this..."

* * *

The surprise guests was a lot to take in, but it wasn't as if Laura Barton had never thought that it may ever come to something like this. Housing the Avengers was not going to be a cakewalk, especially being as pregnant as she was, but these were important people to not only her husband, but to the world, and she'd gladly do what she could.

What she was doing now, after having let the team do whatever to keep their minds off of what Clint said, "Biggest Fears in Vision From" by one of the enemies, she went up to one of the occupied guest bedrooms to make herself useful.

Jamie Roe had been placed upstairs alone to rest and recover. Laura had been the videos of what had happened with her and Hulk on YouTube, and on the news. She wasn't going to lie, Solace looked like hell, but if there was something Laura could do to make her more comfortable, she was glad to do it for the young woman. So Laura sat there with a bowl of water and a warm wash cloth cleaning the girl's skin, since she was still caked in dirt and blood from her battle.

It was incredible to see her up close and in person, instead of on TV or in the newspapers and tabloids. She looked so much younger in person, and she looked more peaceful while asleep. It was hard to believe that she was only twenty-seven years old. From all the stories she had heard from Clint, one would imagine someone older with all of the adventures she had gone on, and the horrors she had been through.

She was only a child.

Jamie's eyes finally fluttered open as Laura gently wiped off some of the dirt on her forehead. It took several seconds for her eyes to focus, but when they did, it was no surprise that she was confused and didn't know where they were. When her eyes landed on Laura, it was clear that she didn't understand what was going on.

"Hello Jamie," Laura said softly with a smile. "My name's Laura. I'm Clint's wife."

"Wife?" Jamie asked. She tried to sit up, but the pain prevented her, as well as Laura...Clint's secret wife...

"Yeah," she said. "When Clint joined up, he and Fury kept us out of the files for safety reasons. We'd prefer to keep it that way, if you don't mind."

"Not at all. I understand," Jamie nodded. "Guess I should've seen that coming."  
"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, he never dates and he turns down everyone that tries to," Jamie said. "It's no wonder why. He's got a beautiful wife at home waiting for him. And a baby, apparently."

"Actually, this will be our third," Laura said. "Our oldest is Cooper, and our daughter is Lila. This one here is Nathaniel," Laura said, looking down at her stomach, her hands gently running over her shirt over it.

"It's nice to know he can do the job and still have all this," Jamie admitted.

"Well, it seems to me that maybe I won't be the only one," Laura said with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Jay asked.

"Well, for starters, Bruce and Natasha," Laura pointed out.

"Oh thank God, I'm not the only one that see's it. They're good together," Jamie said with a smile.

"I wholeheartedly agree. Then, of course, there's you and Steve," Laura said.

"I'm sorry, I don't follow," Jamie interrupted. "Steve and I aren't together."

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just...from how Clint talks about you two, and from how many times he's come by to check on you, I just assumed you were together," she explained.

"No, I thought…" Jamie sighed. "He was going to ask me out a couple days ago, but when I pressed him about it, he had changed his mind completely and said it had been a mistake. He said that it wasn't important anymore,," Jamie explained.

"Well, he wanted to do it once, and changed his mind. Why don't you just change his mind back?" Laura suggested.

"It's not that simple," Jamie said. "Once Steve's made up his mind, it's hard to change it."

"Maybe, but it's not hard to decide to change it."

* * *

 **So, Jamie's gonna be okay, but not a lot of her perspective in this chapter, which I kinda liked! Eventually...But she'll be okay. Doesn't mean she won't be in a whole lot of pain for a while. Steve's being hesitant around her, but at least he's checking in on Jamie every so often. You can tell he still cares. He's just an awkward little bean. Anyway, I hope you guys liked the chapter. Let me know what you thought! (Sorry this one was short)**

Thanks go to the following for their review on the previous chapter:

 _ **Jedi Jesla777**_ \- Yeeeeeeees! I saw it. I loved it. It was so good, and Groot is my spirit animal. And yes, this story is on Wednesdays, and Thursdays is for Candle in the Dark.

 _ **The girl with no life**_ \- She was only there alone for a short time, until the end of the first and Tony could go there to her.

 _ **19irene96 -**_ I know. Poor thing can't get a break. Or...too many breaks. Lol

 _ **FelixFelicis02 -**_ There was more Steve in this chapter, so I hope that fulfilled your need for him for a little bit.

 _ **Jo**_ \- Yeah, poor thing needs some time to just lay down and rest.

 _ **CJ/OddBall**_ \- Oh yeah, there will definitely be so many videos of Jamie getting her ass kicked. Internet if forever! It did make Steve a bit more social with Jamie, but really because he feels guilty for getting caught up in the fear from Wanda, and not because of the breakup.

 _ **WaywardandWanderlust**_ \- He is, and since the internet and cellphones are a thing in existence, he'll definitely see a whole lot of what he did if he doesn't remember.


End file.
